Houston Area Catholic Schools See Attendance Rising
Catholic schools in the Houston area are thriving, in contrast to many other regions in the nation.
In June, the NY Archdiocese will close 26 schools. The Boston Archdiocese recently announced a consolidation of many of its parishes and schools and, last year, the Philadelphia Archdiocese closed 48 of its 156 Elementary schools. Nearly 1 in 5 Catholic schools in the U.S. has closed its doors this decade. The closings are part of a national trend. In the 1960s, there were about 13,000 Catholic schools nationwide. Today there are 6,841, close to a 50% decline. Dwindling demographics is part of the reason.
However Claire Mueller, Principal of Corpus-Christi Catholic School in Houston tells KTRH that the Galveston-Houston Archdiocese is seeing the highest attendance rolls in 33 years, serving over 18,000 students. She credits the increase to the area’s growing population of Catholics in general, the quality of their product, and the fact that so many of the schools have been around for so many years.
The National Catholic Education Association is holding their annual Convention and Expo in Houston April 2-4 at the George Brown Convention Center. It is being presented in association with the Archdiocese of Galveston Houston. It is the largest private-education association gathering in the nation.
